It was just another day of togetherness with a group of friends, skiing on Wachusett Mountain when everything came apart.

"He fell and I got down the mountain and I saw him at the edge of the trail," said O'Connell. “I was holding his hand and he said 'this is really serious,'" she said.

It was serious. Sack was rushed to U-Mass Medical Center in Worcester, then to Boston Medical Center. After surgery to stabilize his back, the family got the news.

"His injury is T-4 and T-5, which takes all his mobility from the chest down," said Clay Sack, Taylor's father.

Taylor, a regular at the gym and a football player at Millis High School, was paralyzed. His family was stunned.

"You cry a lot, and then you realize that you have to pick up with what you have and move forward," said Sack.

Last week, Taylor was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta.

On a Facebook page "Pray for Taylor" the 17-year-old wrote that he still had full movement of his arms and could occasionally feel pressure in his legs.

"I'd be freaking out if I didn't think he was going to walk again. I know he's going to walk again, and so does he," said O'Connell.

In Millis, the community is rallying around Taylor and his family with fundraisers and endless offers of support, from fixing the family car to replacing the boiler.

"Everyone starts to think about if it were their son or daughter. Even though he's not my son, my daughter's life has changed so much, too. It's not what you want to talk to your daughter about. We just wanted to do whatever we could," said Katie O'Connell, April's mother.

Clay Sack said the support has helped his family through the dark days.

"I crawled in that hole the first couple of days. But you have to come back out. We have. My family fights and Taylor will fight,” Sack said.

The community has already raised almost $9,000 in donations.

For information on donations and fund-raising events, join the "Pray for Taylor" group on Facebook.

Upcoming events:Saturday, March 16 Ryan Family Amusement Center1170 Main St. Millis 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.